


Blue Moon

by nicoleiacross



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Supernatural Elements, mild violence, vampire!gladio, werewolf!ignis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross
Summary: Sometimes full moons can get alittlebit hectic. But, that's why Gladio's there. To make sure they don't gettoohectic.





	Blue Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Allo! Kiri comes bearing a gift!!! Based on [This Very Lovely Art/AU](http://mimi19art.tumblr.com/post/166522437850/huhgh-sometimes-just-our-of-the-pain-of)!! {I asked before I ran off to write things ♥} Thank you so much for sharing this art with us, friend!!!
> 
> ( **edit. 19.10.2017.** smol typos fixed o/

It was a long standing rule—relatively speaking—that on nights of the full moon, the only one allowed anywhere near Ignis was Gladio. Until well after the transformation had settled and he could confirm the situation, Prompto and Noctis weren't allowed anywhere near Ignis. An understandable caution, given the aggressive state he could enter in his lycan form. The process itself is an unsightly thing, too; something Gladio wouldn't readily wish on anyone to witness if they could avoid it. For himself… well, he's been alive long enough, seen enough, that it only bothers him for a few minutes.

Besides that, if he were to focus too heavily on the transformation being unsettling, he wouldn't be able to focus on the transformation itself. They take as many precautions as they can—keeping Noctis and Prompto as far away as possible; making sure Ignis has his necklace with the blessed charm on his person; letting him undergo the transformation in the safety and familiarity of his own room; anything that could be done to reduce the stress factors going into moonrise.

That, of course, does not entirely dismiss the possibility of a miscalculation. Sometimes… sometimes, stress just happens to run higher than other nights. The process is already painful for Ignis and sometimes that pain is enough to skyrocket his stress and make the transformation all sorts of worse. Like tonight's.

Gladio's perched a few feet away, crouched down on the ground, with his arms resting on drawn up knees and his weight carefully balanced on the balls of his feet. Ready to push up from the ground if he needs to, ready to engage a too-aggressive Ignis if he needs to. And, if his senses are anything to go by… he's going to need to.

Outwardly, Ignis looks fine—well... as fine as one can look when they know what's coming. He's sitting a few feet away in a pair of borrowed sweatpants, his glasses already carefully folded and set aside on the desk in a corner of the room. Even with the minor issue of vision, his eyes are trained on the large window in front of him, waiting for moon rise. One of his hands idly runs over the chain of the necklace, fingers rubbing gently at the charm on it, like he's hoping it will make the transformation any easier. But… Gladio can tell otherwise. He can hear the slightly erratic pulse, far too quick to just be his body getting ready to adjust to the transformation. The faster his heart beats, the louder the rush of blood sounds, the more a scent of distress fills the air.

The moment moon rise begins, Gladio can almost pinpoint down to the second. He doesn't even look out the window to confirm; he just watches the rigid posture take over and the bright yellow glow begin to take over normally green eyes. The erratic pulse skyrockets, pounding loud enough that Gladio's certain he'd be able to hear it, even without his enhanced senses, and Ignis leans forward, his body following the deep, ragged breaths he's starting to pull in and release. His hands leave his necklace as he falls forward, shifting from a seated lotus position to his hands and knees, fingers curling desperately into the floor, as though that will stave off the pain as his nails begin to thicken and grow and sharpen into claws. As his bones begin to crack and break and mend and pop, loud and overlapping, to adjust to what his height is trying to become. Just that little bitter taller than Gladio, but enough that his limbs extend, that his torso extends, that his muscles and skeletal frame expand.

Some of the bones have begun to settle when it _really_ sets in. Gladio thinks it may actually be his fault; because the second he shifts his weight, almost convinced that _maybe_ he was overreacting, Ignis' attention snaps to him. Bright, glowing eyes zero in on him and he turns, body still giving mild convulsions every few seconds, and only waits for _maybe_ a minute before he lunges at Gladio, knocking him down almost too easily.

The position isn't ideal—he can't really restrain Ignis this way; but, at the very least, his arms are still free and he manages to grab Ignis' wrists before the claws find their way to his throat. He may be undead and would _probably_ heal alright from having his throat torn open… but, he'd also like not to test it if he didn't have to. So, with that thought in mind, Gladio's entire focus is on keeping Ignis' claws away from his throat or face and keeping him at a safe enough distance that the growing fangs aren't snapped in his face either. It takes a bit more effort than he's used to—in keeping him pushed back just enough to not suffer any injuries and he only notices in passing that he, quite thankfully, doesn't have to worry about getting _kicked_ at least. With Ignis sitting across his torso, most of his lower body is obsolete in this struggle; but, so is the wolf's. Not a winning situation, but better than nothing. Now it's just a matter of waiting for an opening—

Almost as soon as the thought crosses his mind, as he's still deciding if this plan is _really_ a good one and if he _really_ wants to test a _theory_ , Ignis' body gives a lurch and he stops struggling for the briefest moment to curl over himself with a throaty, painful whimper as he's rather rudely reminded of the violent transformation his body is undergoing. Gladio uses that to his advantage and, without thinking too much further on it, yanks on Ignis' wrists to pull him forward. The motion successfully pulls the wolf down on him so they're chest to chest and he wraps one arm, tight, around Ignis' torso, trapping his arms; his free hand tangles in uncharacteristically unkempt hair, tangling and pulling gently to prompt his head to the side so Gladio has access to his neck. He bites down before he has a chance to second guess himself.

The second the blood hits his mouth, a mostly foreign sensation washes over him. A new taste, tinged with nostalgia. A taste that makes him think of warm evenings, hiding from people in hopes of getting that _little bit_ of extra time away from them. Libraries— _a_ library. The old one in Insomnia; huge with hundreds of shelves and aisles to hide in, trying to avoid detection, trying to stay as long as possible. As the strange nostalgia leaves him, a new sensation follows; this one is more familiar. It reminds him of things he can't have anymore, things he hasn't tasted in _years_ —coffee and substance that was more than the blood he had to sustain himself on. A faint taste of the ocean—seafood. Seafood that drowned out the cravings for red meat that most wolves went through. As much as this is meant to calm Ignis down, it serves just as well to tease and entice Gladio's own senses and makes it all the more difficult to focus on the task at hand and not the sensation flooding his every nerve.

The second he bit down, he could feel the tension leave Ignis' body. The struggling ceases almost immediately and he goes alarmingly limp in Gladio's hold. Gladio slowly, as much as he doesn't want to, pulls away from the warm neck, turns to nose gently at Ignis' hair. "You good, now?"

He keeps the grip around him, just in case he isn't; but, after a few tense moments of the silence, a shaky breath fills the air and Ignis gives a short nod against his shoulder.

"As... well as can be expected…." His voice is raspy. "A bit discombobulated, but, otherwise…."

That seems like an understatement; but, Gladio nods and shifts a little, slowly loosening his hold. "I'm going to sit up. It's gonna jostle you a bit." Another nod and he complies. He does his absolute best _not_ to move Ignis more than he needs to. At first, it's just moving him off to the side to try assessing the damage done.

A few months earlier, they figured out that—on the off chance a transformation ever got out of control—a shock to the system was enough to halt it for the moment. Some shocks were enough to stun him long enough for the transformation to finish without him being aware; others… like this… Gladio lets out a slow breath and gently, carefully, pulls Ignis up to his lap, cradling his head against a shoulder and rubbing gently at the base of his ear for a short moment. Times like this, the shock stops the transformation all together. His body responds by shutting down until it can figure out how to heal and… well, now Gladio knows, for the future, that biting and drinking are definitely enough to qualify as a 'do not attempt unless necessary' type of interference. His arms have dark marks from where he was beginning to turn and his hands are just that little bit longer to show all the bones there had reassembled themselves. His nails are still sharp and pointed, but he doesn't seem to have any energy left to fight. His legs, as far as Gladio can tell, are still fixing themselves. A bit slower than the transformation normally entails, as his body realises it needs to _heal_ instead of abide to the full moon… at least for the time being.

Despite the tension in the air, Gladio finds himself smiling a little. Ignis' tail is laid out across his leg, limp and lifeless to reflect the exhaustion of the body; but, every time Gladio rubs his ear—still fluffy and blending in rather seamlessly with his hair—his tail tries to give a small swish. After a few minutes, he finally sighs and lets his hand drop, lets his fingers find the bite marks and presses gentle to assess the damage. He can feel the skin working to mend and heal itself, so that, at the very least, comes as a relief. There's still a bit of blood running down his neck, though, and Gladio carefully gathers what he can of the drying blood, by running his fingers through it. To gather and to clean it up a little. He stares at his fingertips for a stretch before finally trying to fill the silence in the room.

"You taste like coffee." He feels the ear against his shoulder give a twitch, actually _sees_ the other one twitch, and feels more than hears the inquiring hum against his neck, asking for elaboration. "I don't know why I thought you'd taste like anything else, considering you basically _live_ off of it. But… that's a thing. Coffee… seaside air and seafood… and…."

Warm afternoons and libraries. How did one even describe that? It wasn't a taste it was… a memory? Not even that, really. Association, seems like a better word, in this case. Not his own, that's for certain. It's happened before—he'll get little glimpses of sorts into the lives of people he feeds from—but… still different. He frowns a little and rests his head on top of Ignis', slowly rubbing his thumb against the two blood-coated fingers until he can't spread it anymore. Ignis, in that time, finally manages to raise his head enough to try looking up at Gladio. His eyes are unfocused and he's clearly having trouble gathering his thoughts enough to try speaking.

"... And…? And what? What were you going to say?" His voice is still raspy and he starts coughing almost immediately. With an annoyed grumble he turns and puts his face back against Gladio's shoulder. It's almost enough to make the vampire laugh, watching him resort to the 'dog-like' behaviour that Ignis normally _hates—_ hates nuzzling people; hates the way he habitually tics his head to one side when he's interested in something or listening for a sound, even when he doesn't have his wolf ears; hates sounding too needy when… really, he isn't needy in the least. Gladio shakes his head a few times to file the observation away and tries to answer the question, instead.

"Not sure. It's not really a _taste_ … kinda… more like… something really specific to you. More ingrained than a memory, for you; something people associate you with—or, you associate yourself with, I guess? Warm days, just before sunset. The old corner of the Insomnia Library, waiting to be kicked out because it was technically after hours, but wanting to finish that last paragraph. I get that sometimes… but yours was… real damn specific. Not bad, just… weird."

Ignis huffs a soft note of laughter. "Are all vampires so invasive? I gave you absolutely no permission to help yourself to my memories."

Gladio smirks a little at that and lets his head rest on top of Ignis' once more. "Probably just me. Probably because it's you. I'll be mindful to find a different way to distract you next time." He presses a quick kiss to the nearest ear—watches in amusement when it gives a short, sharp flick on contact—and turns his attention out the window. The moon's well in view now and he's almost expecting the transformation to start back up again. He's… a little more relieved than he should be when it doesn't. "Gotta say, though… not watching you tear yourself apart during a full moon? Really nice."

"Well, I certainly don't mind missing out on the transformation, myself." Another laugh, a little bit more natural, a little bit more like his usual laugh. "I do, however, very much mind how exhausted I am right now. I'll be holding you accountable for any lingering aches and pains I feel tomorrow. … Ah. Later today."

"Whatever you say, Specs. Whatever you say."

**Author's Note:**

> Guys I wrote something under 6k I'm so excited right now?? Ahhhhh.
> 
> Anyways \o/ thank you for reading!!! Feedback and pointing out typos is appreciated o/ criticism/flames will be ignored! And now!! I sleep!


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